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“No, you’ll be meeting them all at training tomorrow.”
That relaxes me.
Meeting Tom Whitford did not go how I thought it would. I wasn’t expecting hugs and kisses--everyone knows the bloke is a grumpy bastard--but I wasn’t expecting outright hostility, either. And I can’t help the niggling worry that I could be walking into an atmosphere that’s not all that much different to the one I left behind at Lancaster United.?
“We’re here,” Paul says, pulling me out of my musings. I look up and see that we’re at Farleigh Road. The Rock. The home stadium of Croydon Pride F.C.?
A flash of nerves burns through me before excitement washes them away. Soon I’m going to be walking out onto this pitch wearingthe Pride crest. I can’t fucking wait.?
Thoughts of Tom Whitford leave me as Paul and I follow Gideon Collier’s assistant, Erin, through the players entrance and upstairs to the few offices housed here. Yesterday, I signed my contracts and had my medical done downstairs in the training facility, but this is my first time here as an actual player.?
Last night I was taken to the boardroom to sign the papers, but I guess players get different treatment because today Erin leads us to Gideon’s sprawling office, where he and Vinnie are waiting for us.
Gideon, the youngest football club owner in history, looks as excited as I am for me to be here, welcoming me with a huge, beaming smile and an enthusiastic handshake. “Great to see you again, Archie. Paul,” he says, offering my manager a slightly more professional greeting of a polite smile and handshake. Then he steps back and sweeps his hand out to gesture at the other man in the room. "And I don't think you’ve met Vinnie yet?”
Vinnie is quite a bit more reserved than Gideon, but not unwelcoming. His reaction to meeting me isn’t entirely surprising, however. He’s known for being unshakeable, maintaining the same stoic expression regardless of what the team’s doing on the pitch.
“And this is Abby Hook, our PR manager,” Gideon says, gesturing to a friendly-looking woman who looks to be in her thirties. “She’ll be handling the signing photo a bit later.”
After all the pleasantries are done and we’re sitting down, Vinnie puts his game face on. “I’m going to cut to the chase. We want a top four finish this season. We’re gunning for European football and we think you’ll be a crucial player in those plans. But you’re young, new, and still learning. So, we want you to put extra time in with Whitford. He’s going to be like a mentor to you. Help make you the best centre forward on the planet. You’ll need to train closely together and pull your weight”
Bloody hell, I don’t even know where to start with all of that. They think I’mcrucial?And they want Tom Whitford to mentor me?
Tom Whitford. Mentoring me.
It’s like all my footballing dreams are coming true in the space of a week. If I get a call up from the England manager next week then I might cream my pants.
“I want that. All of it.” I can’t help but bounce in my chair. “Does Tom know about this, though?”?
“Not yet,” Vinnie says with a hard smile, and I catch Gideon flashing him a wary glance.
You know what? I’m going to let that be their issue and just enjoy the fact that I‘ll be training with my favourite footballer. Just because he might possibly hate my guts now doesn’t mean I can’t get him to like me if we spend time together. I can be incredibly charming. Everyone says so.
“I just want to assure you that we have your back.” Gideon says, looking all geared up. “How Lancaster United treated you when you came out was appalling, and I want you to know that everyone at Pride F.C is behind you.”
I swallow down the urge to make a sex joke and go for a smile instead. “Thank you, that means a lot.”
“It’s not just empty promises either. We want Pride F.C to be a safe space for you and any other members of the LGBTQ+ community.” There’s a fire in his eye that makes me think he might be more than your regular ally. Gideon’s married to a woman, so that counts him out. But maybe he has a gay brother? I wonder if he’s hot! If he looks anything like Gideon, he must be.
“Thank you,” I say after a beat too long. “I’m not interested in spending the next fifteen to twenty years constantly worrying if I’m going to be dumped by my club because some shitty newspaper published a photo of me getting a blow job at my local gym.”?
Gideon’s face blanches. “Well…whilst we support you, public sex is illegal--”
I cut him off before he stresses himself out too much. “Oh, don’t worry, I wouldn’t do that anyway. I’m out now so I can go to random guys’ homes and get blown.”
Gideon looks at me with wide eyes, and swallows loudly. “I don’t want to interfere in your sex life, but I would advise not going home with strange men. For safety…”
“Well they can’t come ‘round mine. I still live at home with my mum and dad. I mean, not that they would really mind. They’re very supportive of me, but I’d prefer to keep them out of it, you know?”
“Bloody hell,” I hear Vinnie mumble.
“How about we table this conversation and head out onto the pitch for photos?” Paul says, speaking for the first time since we got here.
“That’s a great idea,” Gideon says, looking relieved.
We all rise from our seats and follow Abby down to the pitch.
I’m given a shirt with my name on the back along with the number twenty-three, and then I pose for dozens of photos with Vinnie and Gideon.
